Golden Son

"Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within."--

This was a strong follow-up to "Red Rising," that moves beyond the elements that drew inevitable comparisons to "Ender's Game" and "The Hunger Games" in the first book. There is a good deal more violence in this series than I usually enjoy, but I am drawn by the depth and complexity of the characters, the strength of the continued worldbuilding, and the lovely twists and turns of a plot rife with political intrigue, friendships and alliances made and broken, and secrets worth dying--and living--for in this grim imagining of our future. We often joke of the "second book" trap, in which the second book of a trilogy serves as little more than a bridge to the trilogy's conclusion, neither forwarding the plot nor developing the characters in meaningful ways--"Golden Son" escapes this trap entirely (perhaps through use of its Grav Boots?) and becomes one of the strongest "second books" I have ever read.

A solid follow-up to to Red Rising. The second chapter of the series expands the cast and the overall character interaction. There's more action, betrayal and revelation than the first book. Darrow is finally past the introduction phase of his mission, and he can now work to truly infiltrate The Society. Along the way he makes new friends, loses old friends to betrayal and makes sacrifices to move his mission forward. You also learn more about the origins of The Society, and why it has lasted almost a millennia. Everything I enjoyed about the first book was kicked up a few notches in the second.

This is the follow-up book to the hugely entertaining Red Rising. Just like its predecessor, this book delivers fast paced thrills, but adds 100% more giant space battles. I'm a great fan of the tense romance developing between Mustang and Darrow and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Where the first book was fresh and interesting, the second is just more of the same, which is what happened to the Hunger Games series. Note: Don't read it before bedtime, because there will be too much adrenaline in your body to sleep!

Jerry Garcia sang a lyric that sometimes influences my decisions as it hits a little too close to home. It kills me just a little inside every time I hear him sing, "All the things I planned to do I only did half way." Let's face it sports fans this is exactly why I've been a certified yellow belt in Judo, Aikido, and Tae Kwon Do since the year of our Lord 19 and 84. Thus, I have a complete love/hate relationship with this trilogy. I was so excited when Red Rising began since it appeared there was finally something interesting being written about Mars. However the story rapidly fell apart when it turned into yet another televised dystopian war game. I guess the only thing I really love about it is some of the lingo like "Gory Hell", which is like a good Stephen King novel that changes my vocabulary. Otherwise it is more like a Russian novel in which I get lost in its epic scale and quickly lose interest in the vast amount of vapid and tedious characters. However, I am going to soldier on simply because I am slightly interested in how it all ends even though I find the plot less appealing than Pride and Prejudice times the Brothers Karamazov. Besides I set my intention on the mat this morning at the 5 am heated, power, cardio, sculpt yoga class that I was going to begin finishing things I start.

Quotes

"The human spirit tries to break free, again and again, not in hate like the Dark Revolt. But for love. They don't mimic each other. They aren't inspired by others who come before them. Each is willing to take the leap, thinking they are the first. That's bravery. And that means it's a part of who we are as a people."